This was the season where the VFA and the AFL Reserves competition merged into the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Six of the Victorian-based AFL clubs decided to have stand-alone teams; Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Richmond and St Kilda.

Three other clubs formed composite teams with existing VFA clubs; Hawthorn with Box Hill (Box Hill Hawks), Melbourne with Sandringham and the Western Bulldogs with both Werribee and Williamstown.

Stand-alone VFA clubs were Coburg/Fitzroy, Frankston, Northern Bullants, Port Melbourne and Springvale, plus two stand-alone regional clubs in the Bendigo Diggers and North Ballarat. North Melbourne based it's Reserves side in Wangaratta, and it became the Murray Kangaroos.